According to Peter Abraham, Ian Kennedy will return to the Yankees starting rotation on Thursday. Kennedy, who was lights out in his first start after being demoted, got the start for Scranton today. He pitched only one inning tonight, allowing just an infield single. That runner was caught stealing, and Ikky retired the next two batters before being removed so that he will be ready to go on Thursday. He will start in place of the awful Kei Igawa, who, if there is a God, made his last appearance with the Yankees on Friday when he got shelled by the Tigers. Kennedy will get the start on Thursday, the finale of the Yanks series against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
I’m not sure if Ikky’s ready to come back just yet. Ideally, I’d like to see him get at least one more full start in the minors before bringing him back. But unfortunately the reality is that the other alternative is starting Igawa, which cannot happen. I hope Ikky comes back confident and throwing strikes. He should take a few lessons from watching Darrell Rasner, who so far has succeeded not with great stuff, but by pounding the strike zone and making the most of his weapons.
Sometimes guys need to be demoted to clear their heads in order to get back on track. Roy Halladay, one of the best pitchers in the American League, was once demoted all the way down to single A. After a successful first stint in the majors, Halladay bombed to the tune of a 10.64 ERA in 2000. He started the 2001 season at single A, and was able to regain his confidence and rebound. By the end of that season, he had a successful run in the majors and went on to win the 2003 A.L. Cy Young Award. He’s still one of the top pitchers in baseball. The lesson here is that people shouldn’t get too down on Kennedy just yet. He’s still very young and still has a lot of promise. He’ll figure things out and will be a good pitcher for the Yankees.
Filed under: MLB - Yankees, Writer - Bill Slattery
